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5/30/2011

Mom and Dad and the little boys are headed back home tomorrow, but I think Sam and I are planning to stay for a few more days with Grandma W. Anyway, I am really missing my blogging world, and I really wish I could post some pictures, but I don't have the right stuff to do it with Mom's laptop. I will be back sometime. I'll see you then. I have to run... they're all eating brownies without me. =)

5/28/2011

Just in case anyone wonders where I am, we're on Memorial Day vacation in Illinois. There isn't internet connection at Grandma Wildermuth's, but right now we're at Grandma and Grandpa Morris' house, so I can write, but I don't have my stuff to post pictures. Anyway I'm having a fun time with some of my favoritest people, and I will be back in a few days. I have pictures of a baby monkey I get to hang out with, and other interesting things to tell about, but you will have to wait!..... =)

5/24/2011

Probably should have shown these pics first, and ice cream later for dessert, huh?

Well! I have been quite frustrated with blogger, because it wouldn't let me log in or anything. I thought the problem was our internet or something, but I finally found out that blogger was down. It was very annoying.
Anyway, (great) Uncle Jim and Aunt Fina are here to visit. We went to the Pink Palace Museum in Memphis with them this afternoon, which was lots of fun. My camera didn't have it's card in it, though, so I couldn't take any pictures. Too bad. Well, I'd better go. Mom and Aunt Fina are working on an amazing supper, which should be done very shortly. Hope you like my mini food! =)

5/19/2011

I expected to like this book. After all it’s by the same person who wrote Freckles! =) And it was written well, in the same warm, old-fashioned style that Freckles was. But it seemed to me that a whole lot of it just didn’t ring true.

The heroine, Linda, is a likable girl with the same sort of endearing personality and values as the characters in Freckles, and A Girl of the Limberlost. But from the very beginning of the book she is upset that a Japanese is at the head of her high-school’s senior class. In her mind, this is something all Americans ought to be thoroughly ashamed of, and she has no problem with soundly scolding Donald Whiting, the boy she feels ought to be leading the class, for allowing “the Jap” to win.
Throughout the book, she argues, coaxes, and encourages Donald until he, rather than the Jap is head of the class. She also voices her beliefs that the Japanese have no ability, past being able to imitate what the white man has done, and that the Japanese are trying to defeat civilization, but the white man must stay on top. And so on!
In the end, it comes to light that Oka Sayye, (“the Jap”) is really not a highschooler at all, but a man of nearly thirty, who is simply taking advantage of Americans and their superior education in order to defeat them. When Oka Sayye realizes he cannot beat Donald, he settles for attempting to kill him. While Linda and Donald are on a picnic in the woods, he shoves a boulder over a cliff to where they sit below, but he only succeeds in smashing Donald’s foot. Linda, as well as her trusty cook/companion Katy, climb up to investigate, and in the process are obliged to push Oka Sayye over the edge, and he is never heard of again.

So. Yeah. Not only was it a stupid plot, it also came from a racist perspective, that I didn’t like at all. I got a good dose of old-fashioned racism along with good old-fashioned values, and the author painted them as the same things, which is just not true. I certainly hope Americans don’t view hating Japanese or any other race as patriotic, the way some apparently did in 1921 when this book was published.
In conclusion, I still like Freckles, and I think Gene Stratton-Porter is a good author, but I was very disappointed with Her Father’s Daughter. I don’t ever agree with racism, and it made this book very ugly where it should have been the opposite.

5/18/2011

These are the most amazing brownies, ever! They are my favoritest! =) First you make a pan of brownies, then you melt a layer of marshmallows over the top. After that you melt butter, chocolate chips, rice krispies, and peanut butter together and spread it over the top. Yum! =)
P.S. Like my new background and stuff? I discovered shabby blogs and I'm having fun with free stuff. =)

School is done, as of Monday!!!! And we will have no more Mondays, ever, ever again. Well we will, but you know what I mean. =)
We're all working hard at the little house, mowing, painting, and fixing little things. Someone wants to look at it this weekend. Hurray! I hope it sells very soon so we don't have to keep mowing it. =)
"Dissection Saturday" went fine. I didn't blog about it, though, because, well... cutting dead animals open does not make a very pretty post. You know?! =) I am excited though, because there are several girls I could see being friends with, which is something I need. The neighbor kids turned out to be very nice, and we'll enjoy getting to know them.
Today Pattie, from our church is coming over for lunch, and Sam is hoping that Peyton (the neighbor boy) will come over to ride on the go-cart. And I... I am just content to think about summer, and the amazing brownies I made. =)

5/16/2011

This is Mop, a one-of-a-kind shiny brown pottery poodle. A few weeks ago Mop was sitting on my windowsill, along with my bottle collection and various other one-of-a-kind creatures, when an enormous gust of wind swept them all off onto the floor. Everyone escaped unharmed, save Mop who broke into two neat little halves. Fortunately for Mop, the halves fit together beautifully, and there wasn't a single additional break or chip. Unfortunately for Mop, I didn't have any good glue to put him together again, and as we were moving that week, gluing Mop together again was not top priority. I was reminded of him, however, when I saw some little tubes of super glue at Harbor Freight, and I added them to the cart against the day when I would finally have time to glue Mop back together again.
Fast forward a few weeks, and you come to today, when I notice a forgotten Mop lying patiently in an out-of-sight corner waiting to be whole again. Feeling sorry for him, I rummage around in the garage until I find my super glue, and bring it up to my bedroom. First I read the directions: don't get it in your eyes, or on your skin, apply only one drop per square inch, wear safety goggles (yeah right!), etc. etc. Okay, I can do that, right? Wrong. No one ever told me that super glue was a liquid. So I punch a hole in the little tin thingy, and give the tube a less-than-gentle squeeze over Mop. Instantly, Mop is drenched, and so is my pinky and ring finger. Only mildly concerned, I wipe Mop down with a cloth, and go stick my fingers under the bathroom faucet. It's then that I notice my fingertips are starting to feel stiff, and it occurs to me that maybe you're not supposed to get it on your skin because it won't come off if you do! I yell for Sam, who is less than encouraging, and implies that it will only come off if it takes your skin with it. This thought nearly makes me burst into tears, and Sam departs, rather amused that I would be so stupid.
In the end, it does come off with the aid of fingernail polish remover (which is a very useful product, by the way), but not without much worry and a few tears on my part. I was still determined to finish my task though, and so I returned to Mop, and very carefully dabbled a few drops of glue onto him, and pushed the pieces together. I also had to scrub him with nail polish remover, but it wasn't long until he was restored to his shiny brown self. Ta-da! Isn't superglue marvelous? I wish it wasn't so attached to my fingernail though...

5/13/2011

Hello, hello! It's been a little bit since my last post... I haven't been doing much, though. Actually I've been doing a lot, but it's all boring stuff like cleaning and painting and getting the little house ready to sell. Today we're cleaning the house (the big one) and then we'll probably paint trim at the little house. Tomorrow a whole bunch of homeschooled kids are coming over, and Dad is going to be a Biology teacher again for just one day. We're going to dissect fetal pigs and frogs. Ew. I don't think I have much choice about it though, because the whole thing came to be because of the fact that I never did dissections for Biology. I could have survived with that, but apparently dissections are a vital part of being educated, so... yeah.
Speaking of school, I'm almost done! I have about three more lessons in math, and maybe one book, and then my summer begins! I'm so excited. =)
P.S. Aren't our roses pretty?

5/09/2011

So when we went to Harbor Freight, Sam bought a go-cart motor, so his go-cart finally works again. Dad's not teaching the day class any more, so he was home all this morning, and they got it going.

Rides for everyone! (Of course)

And yes, I had to try it. Sometimes I pretend I'm above such things, but well... you know...

Okay, so after a few times around I'm driving it. I totally freaked Sam out. He turned it off three different times, and told me I had to drive safer. Also he yelled things at the sky like, "You're freaking me out! Why did I ever let you drive! Stop! I must have been insane, when I let you drive! Slow down! Turn, turn!" and things like that... Personally, I think I drove fine, and I think it's funny that he freaked out. I felt safer with me driving actually. Sam says that's just another reason for him to conclude that I'm a highly dangerous driver.

This is Piper. She wore herself out chasing the go-cart and getting all excited and hyper because 1) her kids were riding a go-cart around the yard, 2) A go-cart is a thing with a motor, and she feels obligated to chase it, and 3) We eventually kicked her out of the back part of the yard, and she was not happy about it at all.

Sam wouldn't let me drive again. :-( I'm pretty sure in this picture we're having a very spirited discussion about my safeness or unsafeness as a go-cart driver. :-) He says I can drive it when Dad gets back, so Dad will be the one yelling at me and I'll actually listen. Whatever. I am so not a bad driver. =)

We went to Memphis on Saturday evening, to the library and Harbor Freight, which is Dad's absolute favorite tool store. We also kind of wanted to go just to see what the river looked like. Supposedly it hasn't flooded this bad in a hundred years. Which I can definitely believe. The river was more than three times as wide as normal! This first picture is coming into Memphis, across the bridge. We'd already driven over at least twice that much water, and I'm guessing the river usually only comes up to those trees.

Here you can see the telephone poles in the middle of the water. We also saw several stranded cars, as well as an old school bus, that was almost completely submerged.

Maybe you can't tell, because it's a little blurry, but that's the railroad track back there, with a train on it.

And here's the levy, maybe a mile or so away from the river. I would be really nervous if I lived near by!

So anyway, now you have an idea of what the flooding looks like. It's not half that bad in our Missouri/Arkansas area, but we've had our share too. We cross over a pretty major floodway on our way to church, and it's been pretty much as high as the levy in this picture. I don't think we've ever really been in danger, but it's certainly been interesting. Another thing we see on the way to church, is a farmer who parked all his tractors, combines, and other equipment up on top of his levy. The idea being, of course, that he doesn't want his equipment flooded, and that's the only "high ground" around!

5/07/2011

I made four rolls. The penny is to give you an idea of the size. Also you can see my thumbnail with purple clay in it. Lol!

This morning Mom, Dad and Ben went to the little house to work on the floor. Sam stayed up in his room and did who-knows-what, and Jason and I stayed downstairs and made minis. =) We listened to old Disney songs on Pandora while we worked. Our favorite one is "The Bare Necessities" from the Jungle Book. Oh and, "Cruella De Vil" Or at least it's my favorite, I think it kind of creeps Jason out. =)

I made some mini rolls, and Jason started with a little basket I helped him make, but then he took off on his own and made this amazing little bird in a tree. The first time we tried to bake it, it bent all the way over, and the little birdie had a nest on the ground. Fortunately, we caught it pretty soon, and I managed to fix it, even though it was halfway baked already.

And look! Three cute little eggs. =) I barely helped him at all. I think he's more creative than me! =) I could go on, but sadly, I have to say goodbye now, and go clean my room, which is a wreck. So good-bye... have a lovely Saturday!

"The world was such a wholesome place until... Cruella, Cruella, De Vil." Lol.

5/03/2011

Today was our last piano class! Of course, there's finals on Thursday, but after that we're done. I was positive I was going to absolutely murder the scales, but I did them perfectly, and the teacher was very pleased with us both. Now if only I can do them perfect on Thursday...
We're getting more and more settled in. Things are going quite well, and we're all happy with our new home. It's been raining like crazy, and everything is flooded, but not enough that it's caused much damage or inconvenience. Still, I do like sunny days best. Anyway, I'm going to go either spend time with my dog, whose been feeling very wet and neglected lately, or go read a book or something. I should practice scales more, but I just got back from class, so not quite yet... I'll give myself a break. =)

Quote of the day, from Jason: "Look! I think I see one of your piano-mates!"

5/02/2011

I was in the mood for being creative today, and so I made myself some...um, finger accessories. I guess they're called rings. I knew that, actually. =) This was my first one. It's a bit chunky, but pretty nice.

I have a rather large collection of bits and scraps of paper, like the rose paper I pasted on this ring. My collection comes in handy, and it's a good excuse for cutting up catalogs and saving trash, both of which I find fun. =)

The next one I made out of an old postage stamp... I have postage stamp earrings too. =) I need more stamps. I can't believe I got rid of Sam and my huge stamp collection a few years ago. I have been kicking myself ever since. *sigh*

Maybe five was overdoing it, but I got carried away and had some fun. I made one with a German postage stamp of a castle, and the other two are made out of pieces of glass and pottery. They weren't mine to start with, but I wheedled them out of Ben with the help of a Canadian quarter and stamp, and a bigger chunk of glass that I couldn't use. He was copying me anyway, by collecting them. Sometimes it gets annoying to have little brothers who collect all the same things as you, but I guess it means they admire me. Which Jason would admit freely, but Ben would probably die first.
Anyway, that's what I did today, other then devouring my new library books and practicing those confounded scales. And wouldn't you know it, despite his complaining and prophesies of doom, Sam is the one who has them down perfect now, while I am having a horrific time of it. Some people were born aggravating.
Off to practice scales (again!) Mom and Dad are making Chinese fried rice, and crab rangoon. Something tells me it's going to be delicious...

5/01/2011

Sooo.... yesterday we went to Memphis for a fun little "Mom's-birthday-trip" First we went thrift store shopping, and I found a couple books, and a dress, and Dad found the coolest antique mandolin ever. It has a really interesting shape, and I think it's called a boat mandolin or something. Anyway he's going to draw it for his musical instrument plans business. I wish I had a picture of it, but oh well, later maybe...
Anyway! Guess what we did afterwords? We went to the Memphis library, and got two library cards, one for me, one for Mom. Combined, we can check out fifty books all together, which means ten books for each person. And what a library! It's four stories tall, it has an escalator, and two glass elevators, and it is the most amazing library I have been to in a long, long, long time. I'm so excited! *happy sigh* I think we all acted a little like country bumpkins staring up at the elevators, and wandering around in a daze. =) Best of all, we got to check out books right away, so we all brought a lot of books home. My best find was probably the sequel to Freckles, and I also got some by Agatha Christie, P.G. Wodehouse, and some of my favoritest authors. What?! Favoritest isn't a word? Ah, who cares...=)
So I am really happy with all those books! And the little boys are very, very impressed by a library that has elevators, and escalators, and security guards! =)